Gardening Grandma

Gardening as part of the National Curriculum

You and I must have been replying at the same time, Gold1locks, with much the same ideas in mind. KS3 is an interesting suggestion, but probably won't satisfy those who want it to be a more major part of education.

Gardening as part of the National Curriculum

Gardening used to be taught and was discontinued because new subjects became compulsory and it was squeezed out. There are five hours of lessons a day. That is a fact of life and every new idea taken up squeezes out an older one. It tended to be taught to those pupils who were regarded as not capable of more academic subjects, and this is another real obstacle. Because of the National Curriculum, there is no space in the timetable to single out less academically able pupils for gardening lessons. To argue for its being taught to all pupils, it would have to be made more theoretical, which would possibly kill its appeal anyway!

I wonder whether the way forward is gardening clubs, as was featured on a tv news item the other day. A school had an orchid club and pupils were becoming expert in their care. Schools often have space for a garden, gardening's recreational and educational value is undeniable and the vegetable proceeds could be eaten as part of school dinners  (less yukky than they used to be) or sold in aid of school funds or a chosen charity. This requires an enthusiastic teacher or two, willing to give up their time to encourage an interest in gardening - or some volunteer parents.

MORNING FORKERS

Morning all! Hope your results are good, blackest. Got up to lovely sunshine, but more overcast now. Buying paving materials today for path to go between new flower beds. Exciting!

FG, I agree about rhodos. It is lovely to go and look at them in a big garden when they are in flower but they are a bit of a liability in one's own garden. Too big and gloomy when not in flower and needing acid soil. They won't thrive in my garden, anyway.

Fork Handles

Jo, I picked up somewhere this week (GW?) that blue meconopsis like cloudy skies. I can provide those!!

Good Evening FORKERS

Eveing all. Made a steak pie for lunch. Delish - but pastry doesn't really agree with me so I'm paying now!

Slept this afternoon instead of getting in garden and then it started to rain. All I did was water my large family of seedlings, which I still haven't photographed - but it is coming when they are looking beautiful enough! Scabious have now started coming through. most of them aren't going to be big enough to plant for quite a while, so I've got some hardy annuals to plant in the new borders this year to fill gaps. Never used them before, being an enthusiast of herbaceous perennials, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. 

Trying to watch Endeavour and concentrate on this forum. It isn't working. No clue what Endeavour is about and probably writing rubbish on the forum. What's new?  

MOB rants

Apparently it is already the case that one can only grow and sell vegetables that have been aproved by the EU. Heritage varieties be blowed if they are not on the list. Everything must be controlled and freedom is eroded. The thing is, there must be something for the boys to control, because ultimately it is all about power and that means to power, money. It is just another manifestation of how the privileged create a confortable niche for themselves - the committee boys. There are ways of rising to their ranks, as Mrs T demonstrated, but only for a limited number. Honestly, I'm not being political! If anything, I'm being sociological - talking about how society works.

To be sensible, every aspect of society needs regulation and supervision, but the layers of bureaucracy that exist today mean that much of our (wo)manpower is actually unproductive, making rules and pushing paper and attending official functions. How does this country regenerate and begin creating real wealth again? Not that way! 

Sorry if I'm ranting too much. I like playing with ideas! 

MOB rants

On the subject of rip offs, I've just read the thread 'What does Monty think' which started off as a discussion of the use of barley straw in pots and soon became a discussion of bureaucracy. I think I'd feel a rant about bureaucracy coming on! Bureaucracy is a financial black hole into which governments pour millions of pounds instead of spending it on classrooms. hospitals and the poor. It is about jobs for the boys and ensuring that some of the boys don't take others of the boys to law for breaking the rules. In the classroom, teachers have to prepare 'departmental handbooks', supposedly for parents to read but really so that those of the boys called school inspectors can make sure all the rules are being adhered to in detail. In hospitals, various layers of administration make sure that plans are made and written down and inspected by more of the boys who get paid to prevent litigation and write reports while wards are crying out for more nurses and cleaners and, often, essential equipment. The layers of government which make rules and laws for us to obey are quite incredible, costing many millions of pounds and ensuring that those of the boys who have enough ambition and canniness can enjoy expense accounts and official dinners and other such gentlemanly occupations. That is, of course, the boys and the girls, these days, and I'm all for sexual equality. I watched the programme about Margaret Thatcher's private letters this week and was struck how utterly determined this lady was to enter the world of privilege. I'm not making a political point, actually, just illustrating how far a really determined and able person can go without actually producing anything that can be sold or used to make something else (except more money). Financed, of course, by the rest of us. Unfair of me?

MOB rants

The whole insurance business is a jungle. If you actually claim, your premium goes up massively so you end up paying for things that actually covered by your insurance and keeping the insurance going just in case of a real disaster.

Info For Newbies - How to ensure that your question appears!

Verdun! He doesn't eat cake!

No private club

Well, I'm so glad about that, Verdun and Wintersong! See you!

Compost heaps and rats

Lady Banks rose

Jeyes fluid uses

Little Treasures

GW gardening clubs

The first Gardeners' World

MOB rants

MOB rants

Non-flowering dianthus

B******* Magpies

Can I train a rambling rose over an arch?

Early flowering white rose

getting on with the neighbours

Pruning pussy willow

What is your kind of garden?